Poker game

ABSTRACT

A poker card game, played with a conventional deck of cards, provides each player with two down cards and one face up card. Additionally, there are four community cards that are also exposed for all players to see. Any player can use any combination of his cards and the community cards to form his best five card poker hand. The requirement that each player has three unique cards means that each player must use one of his cards to form his hand. This requirement reduces the potential for ties at the end of the game. The player with the best such hand at the end of play is the winner.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to poker card games played with conventional playing cards, i.e. a single deck of 52 cards, equally divided into four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs), with values in each suit consisting of Ace, 2 through 10, jack queen, and king. The invention concerns the manner in which the cards are dealt to the players, and the ways in which players can use the cards to form winning poker hands.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are in existence a number of poker card games, including those known as Texas Hold 'Em and Seven Card Stud. Each of these games is played so that each player has the use of seven cards in order to form a five card poker hand. The player having the highest ranking hand in each case is declared the winner, with hands being ranked in standard poker fashion, from best to worst as follows: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and high card.

There are significant differences in the manner in which cards are dealt out between Texas Hold 'Em and Seven Card Stud, namely that in Hold 'Em, each player gets two cards face down, while the five remaining cards are dealt face up, and can be used by any and all players in the game. These latter cards are therefore known as community cards. In Stud, however, there are no community cards. Each player is dealt three cards initially, two of which are face down, while the other is face up, in front of the player. Three additional cards are then dealt face up to each player individually, with a final individual card dealt face down to all players still in the game.

In each game, there are rounds of betting interspersed with the dealing, and individual players can forfeit their hands at any time during the dealing-betting sequence.

There is considerable prior art in this field, with much of that art being relatively recent, and concentrated in the variations of poker played by individuals against a computer, or other form of electronic gaming device. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,604 issued to Richards, et. al. on Jun. 13, 2006, which describes a poker game in which players can substitute a card for one of their originally dealt cards; U.S. Pat. No. 7,056,208, issued to Cogert on Jun. 6, 2006, which describes a surrender option for Texas Hold 'Em; U.S. Pat. No. 7,055,822 issued to Lo on Jun. 6, 2006, which describes a six card poker game; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,365 issued to Schlumbrecht on May 24, 2005, which describes a form of Texas Hold 'Em in which the player makes wagers against the house, or casino.

The art described herein is intended to be played by individuals in competition among themselves either in a live format, such as at a casino, or using computers as a means of communication with one another. Indeed, there are currently many websites available for facilitating just such competition, although none are offering any version of the invention described herein.

From a player's standpoint, there are problems with each of these games. In the case of Hold 'Em, winning hand values tend to be low, with relatively few players still participating at the end of the hand. Additionally, the fact that there are five community cards in Hold 'Em means that there is considerable potential for hands to be played out to a tie. This is an undesirable outcome, resulting in considerable frustration to many players. The invention minimizes this possibility, since each five card poker hand must include at least one of the player's individual cards.

In the case of Stud, fewer players can play at any one time, since, if all players stay in the hand until the end, a maximum of 7 players can participate fully. This has led to difficulties when, as is the usual practice, eight players are seated at a table and the dealer runs out of cards, since 56 cards would be required to provide eight players with a full hand.

Prior art does point to the use of games in which there are four community cards. U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,983, issued to Chobanian on Nov. 25, 2003, describes a poker card game wherein three individual cards are dealt to the players, all of them being dealt face down, and in the sequence such that the face down cards are the first, second, and last cards to be dealt.

The present invention resolves the playability issues described above by providing more individual cards to each player, while maintaining a structure that allows for only two face down cards to be dealt to each of said players, with the remainder being dealt face up. However, unlike Hold 'Em, one (or more) of the face up cards is an individual card, useable only by the player to whom it is dealt. The result is that more cards are dealt out, leading to a greater number of final hand combinations, and therefore, likely greater participation by players, who will have to analyze more possible outcomes than is the case in Hold 'Em. In addition, the use of some number of community cards ensures that a table of ten players can fully participate in the game. Indeed, in a preferred embodiment, as many as 15 players could play out a hand, although this number may not be considered optimal.

If, as is usual practice in live casinos, nine or ten players are seated at each table, then between 18 and 34 cards would be dealt out for any given hand, representing between 34.6% and 65.4% of the available cards in the deck. In a Hold 'Em game with the same number of players, between 18 and 25 cards would be dealt, representing between 34.6% and 48.1% of the available cards. Thus, the invention allows for a greater percentage of the available cards being put into play, resulting in more variability of possible hands at the end of each game, while still providing for more players than can be served by STUD, and avoiding the potential for running out of cards during any particular hand.

There are several possible combinations of cards to be dealt and betting sequences that will result in “playable” games, wherein the word “playable” is used to mean a game that would generate player interest, and therefore, likely be one in which people would participate. The common feature of each game is the face up individual card, which would usually, although not necessarily, be dealt as the third card in any dealing sequence. Dealing sequences can be arranged such that either four or five betting rounds would be part of a complete hand, and betting can be initiated by requiring one or more players to post ante or blind bets prior to any cards being dealt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a sequence of card playing and betting according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a sequence of card playing and betting according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the position of players at the table according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of this invention shows the ten different events taking place sequentially during the course of one hand of the game. The diagram does not presuppose a particular number of players, although as few as two or as many as fifteen may play at any given time.

The game is played with a single deck of 52 cards, containing four suits of thirteen cards each, and otherwise known as a conventional poker (or bridge) deck.

Referring to FIG. 3, the first two players contribute two bets, known as the small blind and the big blind, as a starting pool for the pot (which ultimately constitutes the prize for the winning hand), as is done in conventional Texas Hold 'Em. In the preferred embodiment, the small blind bet size is equal to one half of the big blind bet size, although the small blind can be any amount up to and including the size of the big blind. FIG. 3 shows how the game might be played in a casino environment, with the casino providing a non-playing dealer, although this is not necessary to play the game.

The next step is to deal each player two cards face down. Each player may then look at his or her two cards, but not at the cards of any other player. A round of betting ensues, beginning with the player immediately to the left of the player who contributed the big blind to the pot. That player has a choice of either matching the big blind bet, folding his hand, or raising by an amount previously agreed to by all players in the game. This amount can be fixed, or variable up to the amount of money (or chips) that the player has in front of him at any given time. In the preferred embodiment, the amount of the permitted raise would be at least the amount of the big blind and limited only by the size of the player's stack (the number of chips in front of him). This version of the game is referred to as “no limit”, while other betting structures are referred to as either “limit” or “pot limit”, depending upon the agreement of the players.

In the next step, each player remaining in the game is dealt one additional card face up, in front of him. This card is also unique to each player, although all players can see each other's third card. A second round of betting ensues, only this time the betting begins with the first player to the left of the dealer position who is still in the hand. Players have the option of not making a bet (checking), making a bet or matching (calling) any previous bet in the round, raising a previous bet or folding their hand.

When this second round of betting is completed, two or three additional cards are dealt out face up in the center of the table. In this preferred embodiment, three cards would be dealt. In either case, they would be referred to as the “flop”, and would be available for use by all players, as community cards. A further round of betting would ensue, beginning once again with the player first to the left of the dealer position, with the minimum bet being at least twice the size of the big blind.

In this preferred embodiment, a final card (the river card) would then be dealt in the center of the table, also available to all players as a community card. A final round of betting ensues, after which those players remaining in the hand turn over their first two cards, and the player with the best five card poker hand made from his three individual and four community cards being declared the winner and awarded the pot.

Another embodiment, which may be preferred by some players, would have a two card flop, a single turn card, and a single river card. This embodiment would have five betting rounds, as in Stud, rather than the four betting rounds in Hold 'Em. However, all of the final four cards are community cards, available to all players. 

1. A poker game played with conventional playing cards, comprising: (a) first, having one or more players make initial forced bets to start the betting action, (b) second, dealing two cards face down to each player, (c) third, conducting a round of betting after said first two cards have been dealt, (d) fourth, dealing one card face up to each player, (e) fifth, conducting another round of betting after said face up card has been dealt, (f) sixth, dealing three community cards face up, wherein said cards are available to be used by any player to form a given poker hand, (g) seventh, conducting another round of betting after said community cards have been dealt, (h), eighth, dealing a final community card face up, (i) ninth, conducting a final round of betting, and (j) tenth, exposing the face down cards of players remaining in the hand to determine which of them has the best five card poker hand, wherein each hand comprises the best five of the cards dealt, with each player using his individual cards plus the four community cards in that determination; said steps being conducted sequentially, beginning with step (a) and concluding with step (j).
 2. A poker game played as in claim 1, with step (f) being further subdivided into steps (f1) dealing two community cards face up, (f2) conducting a round of betting, (f3) dealing one community card face up, before resuming as in step (g) of claim 1, to conclude the play of the hand, resulting in five betting rounds.
 3. A poker game played with conventional playing cards, comprising: (a) first, having one or more players make initial forced bets to start the betting action, (b) second, dealing two cards face down and one card face up to each player, wherein all three of these cards are used by each individual player only, (c) third, conducting a round of betting after said three cards have been dealt, (d) fourth, dealing two community cards face up, wherein said cards are available to be used by any player to form a given poker hand, (e) fifth, conducting another round of betting after said community cards have been dealt, (f) sixth, dealing another community card face up, (g) seventh, conducting another round of betting, (h) eighth, dealing a final community card face up, (i) ninth, conducting a final round of betting, and (j) tenth, exposing the face down cards of players remaining in the hand to determine which of them has the best five card poker hand, wherein each hand comprises the best five of the cards dealt, with each player using his individual cards plus the four community cards in that determination; said steps being conducted sequentially, beginning with step (a) and concluding with step (j).
 4. A poker game played as in claim 3, with step (d) being further subdivided into steps (d1) dealing one community card face up, (d2) conducting a round of betting, (d3) dealing another community card face up, before resuming as in step (e) of claim 3, to conclude the play of the hand, resulting in five betting rounds.
 5. A poker game played as in claim 1, wherein the face up individual card dealt to each player is dealt after the first three community cards have been dealt, resulting in that individual card being the sixth card dealt in the overall sequence.
 6. A poker game played as in claim 1, wherein the face up individual card dealt to each player is dealt after all of the four community cards have been dealt, resulting in that individual card being the seventh and last card in the overall dealing sequence. 